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Topic: Kamloops, BC mod class racer (Read 2471 times)

The hubs are 3 bolt, but welding new centers into my wheels or making adapters wouldn't be hard. Do people use the other style ones and they work good? I was concerned with something like that wobbling on the axle because it doesn't clamp on. I would think that that any movement would quickly destroy the axle and hub. Maybe I'm overthinking it though.Kristian

On one of my mowers I cut out the 3/4 center and welded in a 1" shafting coupler, it's not perfectly true, but neither are stock rims, haven't had any issues. Also reinforced the rim by welding a plate from the coupler to the outside diameter of the rim

Cool, thanks. I was thinking of building hubs like you linked to, but was worried they wouldn't hold up. I can whip a couple up with some couplers and my dad's lathe easy enough. If it doesn't last I can just try something different then. I'm going to use the stock front wheels, and I'll probably reinforce them with some plate like you did. One of the local racers i talked to mentioned that too. Having a wheel center come apart during a race would probably be pretty exciting. I was working with some 3/4" x .065" wall stainless tubing at work today and had some scraps, so I bent up a couple nerf bars and a dash support. The problem is I work away from home and have flights booked until February, so I might have to see if they'll fit a suitcase. I'll probably get some funny looks at the airport with them. It kind of sucks, I have lots of scrap tubing at home but the bender for 3/4" is about $1000, and I only have access to it when I'm at work.Kristian

Finally back at it, and it feels good to be welding and grinding and actually building something again. The first step was to reinforce the stamped sheet metal chassis. Turns out these things have almost as much torsional rigidity as the proverbial wet noodle. With the chassis sitting on my very crappy build table I could pick up any corner about 1/2" without any others lifting up. That just won't do, so I welded on some old shelf brackets to reinforce things a bit. Without adding any cross members it's already a lot better.

I used a piece of 1" tubing to mock up my rear axle. I squared it to the chassis and put shims under each side, then tacked it to the chassis so I can mount my bearings. I'm using bearings with 4 bolt flanges, but I think I'm going to only use 3 bolts and trim the extra one off the bearing carriers. The dowels are welded to the brackets, and should help keep everything aligned. The hole through the frame rail also has a tube welded in so the bolt won't collapse the frame when I tighten it. Good thing grinders and paint make me look like the welder I ain't.Kristian

I didn't talk to anyone this year. I did ask on their Facebook page if adding steel outside of the original chassis was allowed though, and someone responded saying it's ok. If they go with some official rules does that mean what I've done to reinforce the frame won't be allowed?Kristian

I had a look through the ARMA rules, if they go with them it totally changes what I need to build. I'm waiting on a call back from the organizer of the Barriere fall fair races to see what's going on before I get too far into this. It's still pretty easy to change things at this time. Hopefully I'll be allowed to run with a homemade hood, as none of the mowers I've managed to scavenge had one.Kristian

Looks like you've added it on the inside? In that case you should be fine. I don't see how they could not allow machines built to previous rules, there wouldn't be very many compliant machines. our okanagan rules are almost identical to the current Barriere rules. We are discussing rule changes as well as potentially adopting ARMA as well.

No, I added steel to the outside of the frame, but it doesn't extend past the original stamped flange more than 1/16" (thickness of the steel I used), and it looks kind of like it belongs there. Switching to ARMA rules means I can drop my ride height an inch though, and I'll have to change the way I was going to do my steering and seat. I was planning to build it like a supermod with a kart seat and steering running straight to the front. The ARMA rules would mean I have to go with a mower seat and leave the steering column in the stock location. Not a huge deal at this point in time, but it would suck to have it built and then find out. Thanks for the heads up on the potential rule changes. I haven't heard back yet to see if the changes are going ahead, hopefully I can get some info in the next couple days.Kristian

I talked to one of the people that's in on organizing the local races, and I was told if I build to the ARMA rules I'll be good to go. So I guess I'll drop the ride height an inch, and build it according to the Superstock rules. I guess that takes any of the gearing questions I might have out of the equation too, and the engine should last a long time with the governor still being used.Kristian

So did they say definitively that they will be adopting ARMA rules for all new builds? Or just you should be ok? Itís going to be interesting to see what they decide for all existing builds, if they will allow them to be grandfathered in with new builds or have to run on their own.

I don't think if switching to ARMA rules has been decided yet, but I was told if I built to them I'd be allowed to race at Barriere as well as elsewhere in the province. I might as well build to the ARMA rules then, it gets me 1" lower and 2" wider than the old rules. And if they're not going strictly by the ARMA rules, I can probably disconnect the governor and play with my gearing at the Barriere races if I feel the need. I don't know what they'll do with guys that have built other stuff, but I would guess they'd probably still be allowed to race at least at Barriere.Kristian